The Unknown Factor
by crosswire
Summary: Takato and his friends are being targeted by strange psyco killers who say they want revenge for being killed by them. But they are repidily foiled by a group of strange guardian. Digimon don't die...they haunt.
1. Hazard

The Unknown Factor

Chapter 0 Atonement

""Superstition, bigotry and prejudice, **ghosts** though they are, clinging tenaciously to life; they are shades armed with tooth and claw. They must be grappled with unceasingly, for it is a fateful part of human destiny that it is condemned to wage perpetual war against **ghosts**. A shade is not easily taken by the throat and destroyed."

It was late November and the wind was blowing fierce and the frost was biting at everyone's noses. The snow was ankle deep and you could barely see two feet in front of yourself.

A boy was outside in all this chopping fire wood to but in the basement for later use. He didn't like this task but he knew it had to be done, or else his parents could not bake and if they could not bake they couldn't make money.

"Bread" the boy thought hungrily as he finally chopped the last piece of wood with the old rusting ax. He put the ax under his shoulder and picked up the small remainder of wood and put it under the shoulder along with the ax

He trudged threw the snow toward the cellar door his shoes wet from the snow. Using his free arm he swung open the cellar door and hurried down the stairs into the basement closing the door behind him.

The cellar was only illuminated by the bright white glow from the small window on the side of the room almost buried in snow. The boy could see his own breath as he set the pile of wood down on the rack were the kept a decent supply of wood, varying from boards or logs.

The boy had noticed the heater had gone out. The heater was old, but did a wonderful job of heating the house Even though it would go out at the worst times. The boy was constantly being nagged at to go and see if it was still lit. He was actually glad he had been down here when it had gone out, so he could light it and go up stairs to warm up and eat lunch.

The boy ruffled the snow from his black hair and pulled off the goggles he wore to keep the snow from getting in his eyes. He walked over to a work bench and pulled out a tool box. Inside was a verity of rusting tools, among the rusting fixing implements was a box of matches he had kept down here for just these occasions.

The boy pulled out the box of matches and walked over to the oven to the heater to relight it. He opened the small heater door and struck a match on the match box. He was about to relight the stove when he heard a scream from upstairs.

It was his mother! The scream was soon shortened with a loud 'Whack!' like someone stabbing something into wood. He then started to smell smoke and soon the air in the basement was unbearable. He ran toward the cellar door he had just come out of only to find it blocked by something.

"HELP!" the boy cried out in anger and fear as the smoke got thicker. He gave up his futile attempts at opening the blocked door and ran to the one leading upstairs. He opened the door only to be greeted by hungry flames burning all around him.

He ran though the living room to the large kitchen and saw his mother. She was impaled with an almost medieval sword. He stared horrified at his mother as the flames became too much to bare and the smoke became too heavy to see. He ran calling out for his father only to find him at a worse fate.

He walked into the store front to see his father stumble to the ground. "Dad!" the boy called out about to race forward to his father. "RUN!" was the only words that came out of his father's mouth before he was impaled with a large pair of scissors.

The Boy looked at the murderer. He was tall and covered in head to toe in a large trench coat. He had a large array of weapons on his back, everything from Javelins to swords, to a collection of spoons that hung from a key chain. The murderer looked up from his latest victim and looked at the boy.

His face was covered in bandages and he wore a bowler hat that fit tightly on his head. The boy could make out a sickly blue eye from the bandages and… a smile. The murderer laughed almost in a cackling manner as his horse voice let out the words "Now what do I do you in with?" The boy was more shaken with rage then with fear.

He pulled off his jacket and threw it to the floor leaving only a white t shirt. The boy flew at the murderer launching a heavy kick into his chest. The murderer was thrown back smashing through a glass case that had once contained bread for sale.

"So… are you the one who will also feel the atonement?" he said his voice no longer filled with emotions only smoke. The boy saw a large chunk of glass sticking out of the mans chest. "Freedom at last!!!!" the murderer rang out as a ghostly apparition was thrown from his body.

The apportion looked like a mummy covered in head to toe in bandages. It soon let out a howl of pain as it disintegrated into blue and red fragments. The boy looked in confusion as the murderer said his last words. "Thank…you…don't …let...** It** take away your… _humanity_"

Suddenly the boy felt something behind him. He turned around to see a pair of yellow eye and set of sharp teeth. In a blur of red the creature knocked into the boy sending him into a window. The boy was thrown out into the snow, his insides burned and his eyes stung like they had been drenched in vinegar.

The boy got up and started scratching his palms as the broke out in horrible rashes. He looked down at his shirt as blood started seeping from his chest in a strange mark. He felt like his mind was a crowded hotel room for two but it was housing five. He couldn't control his own actions as he started flailing

His arms around like he was attacking something, and he started to growl and roar. Long after his house was nothing but ashes the boy collapsed.

He lay in the snow fallen field as snow flakes doted his body. He soon drifted off to sleep and found him self on a dog sled restrained in a strait jacket. He was laying down on the sled looking up at an old man in a brown suit with a grey mustache saying "Hurry, hurry!" The boy tilted his head a bit to see not dogs pulling the sled but a boy. He soon passed out again as everything faded to white.

He awoke and found him self in an old looking medical room. Everything from the beds to the light bulbs looked old. He tried to sit up but found his arms and legs restrained. His palms and chest were bandaged, and he saw what appeared to be claw marks in the bed were he lay and burn marks on the ceiling. No more then a few seconds after waking a girl walked into the room from a door obscured by curtains.

The girl was blond and was wearing a yellow outfit. He could see something on her wrist that appeared to be a bracelet, but only got a glance at it. "What's going on here?" the boy said almost in a growl. The girl glared at him and said in a harsh tone "Wait for the doctor" as she sat on gurney across from him and looked up at the ceiling. Soon the man from the sled came in and greeted the girl "Hello Rena". The girls face looked said when the doctor said that name. He moved over to the boy and sat down in an old wicker chair.

"I bet you have many questions" he said with a smile. "Yes I do" the boy said his voice showing signs of exhaustion. He was trying his best to stay awake. "I have only one thing I need from you to answer any of those questions" the doctor said. "And what is that?" the boy asked. "A name for you" he said looking totally serous.

"That's easy! my name is…" the boy looked confused. "My name is…" the boy looked scared and confused as he struggled with the straps on his arms. The boys body parts sort of had a mind of there own as the whipped violently around trying to get free, but with no avail. The doctor did not look at all worried or surprised he just sat there patiently waiting. The boy's goggles had slipped back over his eyes from the shacking of his body.

Eventually the boys strange fit stopped. Huffing from being out of breath he said one word "Hazard". The room started spinning like a violent top as colors and light blurred together in one blinding white blank. The doctor spoke "I think I should wait to answer those questions till you come back to a suitable state of mind Hazard" the doctor said as the boys vision cut to black as he passed out.


	2. Slasher, Icepick and Manimal

The Unknown factor

Chapter 1 the Tormentors

"A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally **unknown** to us. To live is to be slowly born."

Miss Usagi was drowning on about mathematics while Takato was sketching something instead of paying attention, like he usually did. Soon the school bell rang and they were let out from class.

Takato walked home through the park like he usually did. He missed Guilemon, after they had defeated the D-Reaper Guilemon and the other Digimon were sent back to the digital world and with the program Yamika had set up no Digimon could get its way into the real world.

So Takato's had gone back to its boring old routine. He didn't see his friends as much as he use to. Kenta, Kazu and Jeri he saw at school everyday but Henry, Rika and Ryo he hadn't seen them in at least a week.

He called Henry and said he and the others should try and get together sometime and reminisce about the good times. Henry was skeptical about the idea but he said yes, Takato later called Ryo and Rika and asked them to come. It took a lot of effort to get them to come but he managed to pull it off.

They were planning on meeting at Rika's (because her house was the biggest) on Saturday. Suddenly a huge wind swept by Takato all most knocking him on his but; a huge fog bank had come out of no where.

Takato could barely see two feet in front of himself he walked through the mist aimlessly. "Great, just what need, fog" He said annoyed. Takato suddenly heard walking behind him, he turned around but couldn't see anyone there.

"Hello? Who's there?" Takato asked. No reply was given all he could hear was the soft slow steady beat of someone walking. **Tap, tap, tap** Takato walked on and tried to ignore it, but it seemed to freak him out. "_Ok I'm probably just over reacting here. I mean this is Tokyo there are bound to be someone else in a public park"_ Takato thought.

But there wasn't, when he got to the fountain things were a bit clearer, but still the strange fog obscured everything around him. Takato was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrown on his back. Takato looked up at his assailant and was utterly shocked. The man was wearing nothing but a simple black vest and some ragged pants cut short.

But that was not the park he was shocked about. The man had patches of black scaly skin randomly around his body like a checker board and he had stitches running everywhere on his body. He had a club like tail and a pair of ragged wings and strange bat wings on his head like an extra pair of ears. Hid eyes were glowing an evil red.

"You don't remember me do you?" the Monstrosity of a man said. Takato was speechless at this point "Why would I?" Takato said his voice riddled with fear. The Monster man grabbed Takato by the neck and held him up in the air, not chocking him but holding a firm grip on his wind pipe and said "Because you and that Insult of a Digimon deleted me!"

"What are you talking about?" Takato managed to gasp before being thrown to the ground again. "My name was Devidramon" the insane looking man said as he unfurled a set of red razor sharp claws. "But all the news papers call me the Crimson Slasher!" the Slasher said as he pulled up Takato's shirt to revile his stomach.

Takato's eyes grew big with terror and he managed to ask the question in a shacky voice "Why do they call you that?". "Because before I got to you this human had a thing for slashing the guts out of people" the Slasher said bluntly. "All I had to do was get the guy to lose his marbles and I could step right in at anytime and do what ever I wanted!" The Slasher said licking his lips.

Takato's wanted to scream but he couldn't, he wanted to fight back but he felt like the Slasher was sucking the will right out of him. "Any last words?" The Slasher said as he raised a single red claw.

"Yeah" a voice from behind the Slasher said. "Watch Seven you unoriginal nut job!" A sound like a small rocket went of and a flare stuck into the Slasher's shoulder letting out sparks and burning the skin. "AGRHHHHH!" the Slasher screamed out in pain as he turned around to try and find who shot him.

"**WHO DID THAT!"** he boomed as he looked around only seeing the fog. He heard a low growling noise circling the fountain just out of his eye sight. "Crimson Claw!" The Slasher called out sending streaks of red light that obliterated the fountain. A figure Takato could see ran up to the Slasher and unleashed a hose of flame upon him.

The Slasher was engulfed in flames as he swiped at the shadowed figure. The Slasher another took a short burst from what Takato could make out to be some kind of odd blow torch. The Slasher jumped up and started flying away screaming "You won't be so lucky next time!" Takato got up his heart pounding from the near death experience he just had and looked around for his savior.

The fog cleared up and reviled no one Just the rubble of the fountain and the rest of the park. Takato walked on home unsure of what to do "_Digimon possessing humans?"_ he thought amazed and scared at the same time. "I have got to call Henry about this!" Takato said racing down the park path, only to suddenly stop. He looked at a bush and swore for a split second saw a pair of yellow eyes.

Takato shock his head and rubbed his eyes and looked back up and they were gone.

Henry was on his way home after his regularly scheduled self defense classes. When he slowly realized something…No one was around. No one, he was in a busy part of town and no one, not a single solitary person was around, not even a car drove by.

Henry knew something was very wrong even before the fog bank rolled in. He suddenly heard grunting and screeching coming towards him. When out of the fog a large ape like creature came swinging across onto a sign pole in front of him. It swung around the pole three times, landed and looked at Henry.

The realization hit him hard. "Gorillamon?" he asked as the Gorilla like creature grunted and said in a primitive tone "Manimal". The Manimal had white fur covering most of his body. His skin was a normal human color but the small but threatening looking cannon mounted were the right arm should have been whipped any idea of this being some kind of practical joke out of Henrys mind.

The Manimal raised its cannon and fired it at Henry. Henry had dodged the blast and ducked behind a near by car. "Why Are you doing this?" Henry called out trying to buy some time to figure some sort of plan out.

"Me get deleted. Me find man. Man like to kill. I tell man I help him kill, make man better, then I go and kill You!" he cried out barely missing the car Henry was hiding behind. "_He did what?"_ Henry thought trying to make sense of this confusing situation.

"I wish terriermon was here!" Henry said aloud. "Then at least I could stand and…Ooof!" Henry was knocked in the stomach by The Manimal's Beefy fist before he could finish his sentence.

The Manimal grabbed Henry and lifted him with one arm and stuffed the cannon into Henrys chest ready to fire. Then shots rang off and the Manimal's cannon was shot too pieces by some strange blast. The Manimal threw Henry to the ground and ran off into the fog.

Henry got up shaken but not injured. He then heard a very familiar giggling from up above. "Terriermon!" he called out looking up hoping to see his sarcastic companion gliding down to him. The giggling stopped and the fog bank lifted.

People soon reappeared on the streets and cars zoomed by as he still looked up at the roof tops hopeing to see Terriermon.

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The Icepick was a fiendish creature from the start. Hunting down and killing small children was a hobby for him, only when he started getting mentions in the papers did he really care how he killed them.

At first he had only crushed or beaten a few, but after getting bored on one job he nailed a small red head to her own house door with a few ice picks. Only then did he get his nickname.

He was having fun toying with the police and leaving more and more interesting things for the reporters to find. Around victim one hundred and six did the **Icy devil** appear and offer him a chance of a lifetime. Give him his soul and would have a blast killing anyone!

So after accepting the deal he only had to do one thing. Kill a girl by the name of Rika. Usually he hated kids this age and preferred to younger victims, but it was part of the contract. Plus I never said when he had to kill her.

He had been taking his marry time picking up children with his talons and flying them away and dropping them right were they lived. He did enjoy watching them fall, but he did want to keep up his nick name. so he froze children and stabbed them through the heart. The profilers would lose there minds trying to figure out how he froze twelve children to the juggle gym and turned them into five year old shish kabob.

After a long joy filled period of mindless fun he knew he had to get to business. There was only one problem. Every time he got even remotely close to where the little brat lived, he was filled with more diamond like shrapnel to make it look like he robbed a few banks!

Some weird…thing was trailing his every move, his every detail was being watched and waited on by someone. He eventually grew frustrated and tiered of the constant ambushes and went back to the states were he could murder in peace.

But he would be back... the more they killed the stronger they became and soon no one could break his record.

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I know its sort of…weird and I promise not to do anymore parts from the guy who enjoys stabbing small children with ice picks. Just I need to give you guys a bit of back ground on at least one of the 'Tormentors'.

Read, review and tell me what you think is going on!


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